PH · Citizenship by descent

Filipino citizenship by descent

Reaches a great-grandparent. Every answer on this page is what Postern’s rulebook returns, word for word, with the law it cites. The free check runs the same rules.

Last verified 25 September 202610 sourcesNot legal advice

PH · PARENTLIKELYThrough a parentCitizen by birthPH · GRANDPARENTPOSSIBLEThrough a grandparentCitizen by birth, generation by generationPH · GREAT-GRANDPARENTPOSSIBLEThrough a great-grandparentCitizen by birth, generation by generation
Routes
Citizen by birth (Art. IV) · Reacquisition under RA 9225
Dual citizenship
Kept on every open route

The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.

On this page
  1. 01Who qualifies
  2. 02Dates that matter
  3. 03Mothers’ lines
  4. 04Keeping your citizenship
  5. 05The routes and the law
  6. 06The documents
  7. 07What it takes
  8. 08Where the records live
  9. 09Law changes
  10. 10Other doors
  11. 11Sources

01Who qualifies

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Filipino citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by birth

A child of a Filipino citizen is a Filipino citizen by birth; report the birth at the consulate.

What changes the answer

  • LIKELY
    If someone in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was bornRA 9225 (parent reacquires; you derive if under 18, or apply in your own right if born after)

    Your parent lost Filipino citizenship by naturalising abroad before you were born; they can reacquire it by oath under RA 9225, and the route for you then depends on your age and birth date.

  • UNLIKELY
    If the parent is your mother and you were born before 1973

    Born before 17 January 1973 to a Filipino mother and a foreign father, you became Filipino only by electing it within a reasonable time after reaching majority, about three years; an election decades later does not count.

If someone in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born, one more case
  • UNLIKELY
    If the parent is your mother and you were born before 1973Citizen by birth

    Born before 17 January 1973 to a Filipino mother and a foreign father, you became Filipino only by electing it within a reasonable time after reaching majority, about three years; an election decades later does not count.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Filipino citizenship through a grandparent?

Citizen by birth, generation by generation

Filipino citizenship passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each link must have held citizenship at the next birth. If a grandparent naturalised abroad before your parent was born, your parent reacquires under RA 9225 first, and then you.

What would settle itWhether each person in the line was still a Filipino citizen when the next was born.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Filipino citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Citizen by birth, generation by generation

Filipino citizenship passes from parent to child without a generational limit, but each link must have held citizenship at the next birth. If a grandparent naturalised abroad before your parent was born, your parent reacquires under RA 9225 first, and then you.

What would settle itWhether each person in the line was still a Filipino citizen when the next was born.

02Dates that matter

The dates that matter

  1. 1964

    The Supreme Court held that Vicente Ching, born in 1964 to a Filipino mother and a Chinese father, who elected at 35, was not a Filipino citizen: the election must come within a reasonable time after majority, generally three years. Supreme Court, In re: Application for Admission to the Philippine Bar of Vicente D. Ching, Bar Matter No. 914 (1 October 1999)

03Mothers’ lines

How mothers’ lines were treated

In Philippines’s rule, the answer changes when the line runs through a woman:

  • UNLIKELY
    If the parent is your mother and you were born before 1973

    Born before 17 January 1973 to a Filipino mother and a foreign father, you became Filipino only by electing it within a reasonable time after reaching majority, about three years; an election decades later does not count.

In the law’s words

04Keeping your citizenship

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

05The routes

Every route, and the law behind it

Citizen by birth

Open through a parent

  • LIKELY
    Through a parent

The law

What would settle an unsure case

  • Whether you elected Philippine citizenship (sworn statement and oath, registered with the civil registry) within about three years of reaching majority, or consistently exercised rights reserved to citizens.

RA 9225 (parent reacquires; you derive if under 18, or apply in your own right if born after)

Open through a parent

  • LIKELY
    Through a parent, if someone in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born

The law

Citizen by birth, generation by generation

Open through a grandparent or a great-grandparent

  • POSSIBLE
    Through a grandparent

The law

What would settle an unsure case

  • Whether each person in the line was still a Filipino citizen when the next was born.

06The documents

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by birth

Through a parent

  • Your parent’s Philippine birth certificate (PSA) or passport
  • Your birth certificate
  • Your parents’ marriage certificate, or a PSA certificate of no marriage record
  • Report of Birth at the consulate (about $25)

RA 9225 (parent reacquires; you derive if under 18, or apply in your own right if born after)

Through a parent, if someone in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born

  • Your parent’s Philippine birth certificate (PSA) or passport
  • Your birth certificate
  • Your parents’ marriage certificate, or a PSA certificate of no marriage record
  • Report of Birth at the consulate (about $25)

Citizen by birth, generation by generation

Through a grandparent or great-grandparent

  • Your ancestor’s Philippine birth certificate
  • Birth and marriage records for each generation
  • Naturalization records showing dates

Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.

07What it takes

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by birth

Time
2–4 months to file the Report of Birth at the consulate and get a Philippine passport.
Cost
About $150–300: the $25 Report of Birth fee, PSA certificate fees, and the passport fee.
The hard part
Getting the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) certificate of no marriage record for your Filipino parent, dated within three months of filing — a paperwork detail that trips up many families.
Who decides
The Philippine consulate for your address, which reports the birth to the PSA.
The first record
Your Filipino parent’s PSA birth certificate, from The Philippine Statistics Authority. Order online through the PSA Serbilis or PSA Helpline portal by name and date of birth; delivery typically takes 1–3 weeks. psa.gov.ph

How it’s filed

Where
The Philippine embassy or consulate general whose jurisdiction covers the state where the child was born (not where the family lives): Embassy in Washington (AL, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV), Consulates General in New York (CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT), Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco (AK, CO, ID, MT, northern CA, northern NV, OR, UT, WA, WY), Honolulu (HI) and Agana (Guam). New York: email the scanned set to newyorkpcg.civilregistry@dfa.gov.ph for pre-assessment, then mail the packet to the Civil Registry Unit, 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036. office list
How
By post; no appearance needed
Fee
About $25
Decision
4–17 weeks
What goes in the file (9)
  1. Report of Birth application form, four notarized copies with original signatures (the child signs if 18 or over)
  2. The U.S. birth certificate, one certified copy plus three photocopies
  3. Proof of the parent's Filipino citizenship at the time of the child's birth: Philippine passport or PSA birth certificate, plus a U.S. green card, visa or work permit (or a later naturalization certificate showing a date after the birth, or RA 9225 papers); original or certified copy plus three photocopies
  4. Affidavit of Delayed Registration, four notarized copies, when filed more than a year after the birth (no monetary penalty)
  5. Valid passport or ID of the person reporting, four copies
  6. Parents' marriage certificate or Report of Marriage, if the child is legitimate (one original or certified copy plus three photocopies)
  7. Where applicable: joint affidavit of legitimation, affidavit of acknowledgment of paternity, affidavit to use the father's surname (four notarized copies each)
  8. Fee: USD 25 by money order or cashier's check payable to the Philippine Consulate General (plus USD 25 certificate-of-registration fee only for an illegitimate child using the father's surname)
  9. Prepaid return envelope
What goes wrong (6)
  • The consulate issues the ROB in weeks; the PSA copy becomes orderable 6 to 12 months after reporting (psahelpline.ph). For a passport at the same post within a year, the consulate's ROB is enough.
  • The parent must have been a Filipino citizen on the day of the birth. If the parent naturalized abroad before the birth, use the RA 9225 path instead.
  • Born before 17 January 1973 to a Filipino mother and a non-Filipino father: under the 1935 Constitution the child had to elect Philippine citizenship at majority (within a reasonable time, generally read as three years after 21). An adult in this group who never elected is usually not a citizen by birth; get advice before filing.
  • Some posts take ROBs in person by appointment rather than by mail (unverified per post); Washington also accepts ROB by mail.
  • Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Agana are named in the jurisdiction split above but still have no confirmed street address anywhere, in the spec or this pass.
  • From CA: file with the Philippine embassy in Ottawa or the consulates in Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary for the province of birth (unverified jurisdiction split). From GB: the Philippine Embassy in London. From AU, NZ, ZA: the embassy or consulate for the place of birth. A foreign birth certificate from another country than the post's may need an apostille (unverified).

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

RA 9225 (parent reacquires; you derive if under 18, or apply in your own right if born after)

Time
3–6 months for your parent to reacquire by oath, then 2–3 months more for your own derivative registration or Report of Birth.
Cost
About $300–500 total: the reacquisition fee (about $50–75), your derivative registration or Report of Birth ($25), PSA certificates and the passport fee.
The hard part
Confirming your parent was natural-born (Filipino from birth, not naturalized) before their own naturalization abroad — only natural-born Filipinos can reacquire under RA 9225.
Who decides
The Philippine consulate for your address, which processes the oath of allegiance and any derivative or birth registration.
The first record
Your parent’s PSA birth certificate showing natural-born Filipino status, from The Philippine Statistics Authority. Order online through PSA Serbilis by name and date of birth. psa.gov.ph

How it’s filed

Where
The Philippine embassy or consulate general for the parent's residence, in person (oath before a consular officer). office list
How
In person; you appear in person
Appointments
Each post's online appointment system (Washington: 'Schedule an appointment' on the embassy site). Washington completes the petition, oath and Identification Certificate the same day. unverified: slot waits at each post.
Fee
About $50
Decision
1–13 weeks
What goes in the file (9)
  1. The parent's RA 9225 petition, completed
  2. The parent's PSA birth certificate on security paper, original and one photocopy (proves natural-born status)
  3. The parent's foreign naturalization certificate, original and one photocopy
  4. The parent's Philippine and foreign passports (valid or expired), originals and photocopies of the data pages
  5. Two recent 2x2 inch colour photos, white background
  6. Name-change documents if any (marriage certificate, annotated birth certificate, court order)
  7. For each unmarried child under 18 included as a derivative: the child's birth certificate and USD 25 (the child need not attend in Washington)
  8. USD 50 for the parent
  9. For a child born after the parent's oath: a Report of Birth citing the parent's Identification Certificate (see 'Citizen by birth')
What goes wrong (5)
  • Only a natural-born Filipino (Filipino from birth, without having to do anything) can reacquire. The PSA birth certificate is the proof.
  • Children derive only if unmarried and under 18 when the parent takes the oath. A child who is already 18 and was born while the parent was a foreign citizen does not become Filipino through RA 9225 and has no route of their own; for them the answer is 'no' unless an earlier link in the line helps.
  • Children born after the parent's reacquisition are citizens by birth: report the birth (USD 25).
  • The derivative gets their own Identification Certificate; use it on their Report of Birth or passport application.
  • From CA: Vancouver lists the RA 9225 fee as CAD 77.50 per adult; other posts charge the local equivalent of about USD 50 (unverified per post). From GB, AU, NZ, ZA: the same petition and oath at the embassy or consulate for your residence.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Citizen by birth, generation by generation

Time
6–18 months, since it usually means a grandparent or great-grandparent reacquires under RA 9225 first, then your parent, then you.
Cost
About $600–1,200 across generations: reacquisition fees, PSA certificates for each link, translations of any foreign naturalization records, and passport fees.
The hard part
Establishing that every person in the chain was still a Filipino citizen when the next one was born; a naturalization abroad anywhere in the line before the next birth breaks it until that person reacquires under RA 9225.
Who decides
The Philippine consulate for your address, then the Bureau of Immigration for reacquisition filings.
The first record
Your Filipino ancestor’s PSA birth certificate, from The Philippine Statistics Authority. Order online through PSA Serbilis by name and approximate date; pre-1945 records may need a direct request to the local civil registrar. psa.gov.ph

How it’s filed

Where
The Philippine embassy or consulate for each person's place of birth (see 'Citizen by birth'); each ROB can go to a different post. office list
How
By post; no appearance needed
Fee
About $50
Decision
3–18 months
What goes in the file (4)
  1. The Filipino ancestor's PSA birth certificate
  2. For each generation born abroad, oldest first: a Report of Birth with that person's birth certificate, proof the parent was still Filipino at that birth (green card, visa, or a naturalization certificate dated after the birth), the parents' marriage record, and ID
  3. For any link who naturalized abroad before the next child's birth: that person's RA 9225 Identification Certificate (reacquisition), which only helps descendants who were under 18 at the time or born after
  4. Then your own Report of Birth, with your parent's ROB (or PSA copy of it) as the proof of the parent's citizenship
What goes wrong (4)
  • The same consular Report of Birth applies to each generation in turn: the parent's birth is reported first (the parent signs as informant if an adult), then yours, citing your parent's ROB.
  • Every link must have been a Filipino citizen at the next birth. A naturalization abroad before a birth breaks the chain for that child and everyone after, unless the person reacquires under RA 9225 while the child is still under 18.
  • Fee shown is two ROBs at USD 25; add USD 50 per RA 9225 petition and USD 25 per derivative child.
  • Allow for the PSA delay: your parent's ROB reaches PSA 6–12 months after reporting; ask your own post whether it will accept the consulate's copy of the parent's ROB in the meantime (unverified).

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.

08Where the records live

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

  • birth1945–2026

    Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA, formerly NSO), which keeps the national copies of civil registry documents sent up by every Local Civil Registry Office

    Search by the full name, date and place of birth and the parents' names. Online through PSA Serbilis (worldwide delivery) or PSAHelpline; in person at a PSA CRS outlet in the Philippines.

    Ask
    Online, in English · request page ↗
    Fee
    20.3 USD
    Takes
    2–9 weeks
    Good to know (5)
    • USD 20.30 per copy for delivery outside the Philippines by PHLPost (DHL express at extra cost), inclusive of the PHP 30 documentary stamp tax. Marriage and death certificates are the same; a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage Record) is USD 25.30.
    • PSA issues a document only to its owner, the owner's spouse, a parent (for a minor), a direct descendant, or an authorized representative with an authorization letter and a copy of the owner's ID. A grandchild asking for a grandparent's certificate qualifies as a direct descendant.
    • If PSA has no copy (common for older or late-registered births), it issues a negative certification; then get a certified copy from the Local Civil Registry Office of the town of birth and have it endorsed to PSA. That round trip takes months.
    • Consulates want the PSA copy on security paper (SECPA), not the local registrar's copy.
    • unverified: the start year of PSA's national holdings; records before about 1945 were often destroyed in the war and survive, if at all, at the Local Civil Registry Office or the National Archives.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

  • birth

    The Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) of the city or municipality of birth

    The municipal or city civil registrar of the place of birth holds the original register book. Needed when PSA returns a negative certification, or for a late-registered birth.

    Ask
    Through an agent, in English or Filipino
    Takes
    2–17 weeks
    Good to know (2)
    • In practice a relative or an authorized representative in the Philippines goes to the LCRO; many LCROs do not answer foreign email. unverified: per-municipality fees (small, in pesos).
    • Ask the LCRO to endorse the record to PSA so a PSA copy on security paper can then be issued.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

  • birth1800–1945

    National Archives of the Philippines (Pambansang Sinupan ng Pilipinas): Spanish-era records and pre-war civil records

    For a grandparent or great-grandparent born before the war. Request through the archive's online system (free account) by record type; certified true copies are issued without a visit.

    Ask
    Online, in Spanish (Spanish era) or English · request page ↗
    Takes
    1–6 months
    Good to know (2)
    • The site is behind a bot-protection service; an agent needs a human-created account. unverified: fees, and which provinces' registers survived.
    • Catholic parish baptism registers (held by the dioceses; many filmed by FamilySearch) are the other source for births before civil registration.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

  • marriage

    PSA (marriages in the Philippines, and Reports of Marriage filed at consulates)

    Ask
    Online, in English · request page ↗
    Fee
    20.3 USD
    Takes
    2–9 weeks
    Good to know (2)
    • A marriage abroad of a Filipino parent should itself be reported (Report of Marriage) at the consulate for the place of marriage; a U.S. marriage certificate is accepted on the ROB checklist if no Report of Marriage was filed.
    • CENOMAR (USD 25.30) proves no marriage record; some posts ask for one when parents were not married (unverified per post).

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

  • naturalization

    USCIS (U.S. naturalization of the Filipino parent or ancestor): the naturalization certificate, or a Genealogy Program search for pre-1956 files

    The date the Filipino parent naturalized abroad decides everything: before the child's birth, the child is not Filipino unless the parent reacquires under RA 9225 while the child is under 18. Use the parent's own certificate; for a deceased ancestor, a USCIS Genealogy request or National Archives court records.

    Ask
    Online, in English · request page ↗
    Takes
    2–12 months
    Good to know (1)
    • The ROB checklist asks for proof of the parent's Filipino citizenship at the time of birth: a green card, visa or work permit (showing the parent was not yet a U.S. citizen), or RA 9225 papers.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Translations

Into
English
Who may translate
No translation needed
About
$0–$50 a page

English is an official language of the Philippines; U.S., Canadian, British, Australian, New Zealand and South African records need no translation. Records in other languages (e.g. a Spanish-era record, or Brazilian or Argentine civil records) need an English translation (unverified: posts' exact standard; a certified translation is the safe choice). Documents from the post's own country are not apostilled for an ROB; ROB and RA 9225 forms are notarized by any U.S. notary.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

The passport

Where
The Philippine embassy or consulate for the applicant's residence, by appointment (DFA online appointment system at passport.gov.ph, linked from each post). First-time applicants born abroad use their ROB (at the same post within a year of issue) or the PSA copy, plus proof of current Philippine citizenship (e.g. green card or RA 9225 Identification Certificate) and the foreign passport. Mailed 6–8 weeks after the appointment.
Fee
About $60
Time
6–10 weeks
  • The DFA Passport Appointment System (passport.gov.ph) is not automatable: the DFA explicitly blocks accounts it finds gaming date availability (e.g. mass-holding slots) and warns against third-party 'fixer' booking services. Book it yourself, from your own account, at the time slots actually release.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

09Law changes

Recent and pending changes

The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Philippines.

The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.

10Other doors

If descent doesn’t reach you

2 residence programs lead to Philippines without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

11Sources

Every source on this page

3 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing. Records and filing checked 25 September 2026.

  1. Law1987 Constitution, Art. IV §1(2): citizens include those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines · Art. IV §1(3)
  2. LawRepublic Act 9225 (2003): retention and reacquisition of citizenship by natural-born Filipinos who naturalized abroad
  3. LawSupreme Court, In re: Application for Admission to the Philippine Bar of Vicente D. Ching, Bar Matter No. 914 (1 October 1999)
  4. RecordsThe Philippine Statistics Authority: Your Filipino parent’s PSA birth certificate · checked 25 September 2026
  5. RecordsHow to file: Citizen by birth · checked 25 September 2026
  6. RecordsHow to file: RA 9225 (parent reacquires; you derive if under 18, or apply in your own right if born after) · checked 25 September 2026
  7. RecordsEach post's online appointment system (Washington: 'Schedule an appointment' on the embassy site) · checked 25 September 2026
  8. RecordsBirth records: The Local Civil Registry Office · checked 25 September 2026
  9. RecordsBirth records, 1800–1945: National Archives of the Philippines · checked 25 September 2026
  10. RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait · checked 25 September 2026

Not legal advice. Postern’s rulebook is written from the statutes and tested against documented cases; where the law is unsettled, the answer says “possible” or “unsure” rather than guess.

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